I've read various stuff, including Tim W's very useful thread.

I'm now starting to fit my own B&Q frames and as usual the questions I want
to ask aren't quite answered.

(1) I have a pack of glazing packers from Screwfix (two, actually, 28mm and
32mm). The double glazed units are a shade under 28mm deep. However I have
seen reference to 'bridge packers' which I think go at the bottom of the
glazing and have some special characteristic which enables free drainage
across the bottom of the frame. I can see two drainage slots at the bottom
of the frame and also see that if I fill in the bottom channel with setting
blocks then this would prevent water from draining from one side. No mention
of this in the video.

So, do I need special 'bridge packers' which are different from glazing
packers and if so where do I get them?

(2) Glazing packers. My glazing is roughly (just under) 28mm deep so I
assumed that 28mm packers would be required. On removing the glazing beads
from my first frame I note that the gap appears to be just under 24mm (the
smallest width offered by Screwfix) with a lip about 4mm up on the glazing
bead side of the frame only.
Above the lip is about 26mm wide to a small ridge - the other (under) side
of this lip holds the glazing bead in.
This still doesn't seem wide enough to get the glazing behind, and the
distance between these two ridges is about 40cms and the glazing is about
39.5 cms wide.
So it is looking as though I have to build up about 4-6mm of glazing packers
all the way round (24mm or under) until they are proud of this ridge before
fitting the glazing unit.
This will leave quite a large gap all the way tound the unit - far more than
is required to accept the heads of the frame fixers.
Is this usual?

TIA

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:53:35 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wibbled:

I've read various stuff, including Tim W's very useful thread.

I'm now starting to fit my own B&Q frames and as usual the questions I
want to ask aren't quite answered.

(1) I have a pack of glazing packers from Screwfix (two, actually, 28mm
and 32mm). The double glazed units are a shade under 28mm deep. However
I have seen reference to 'bridge packers' which I think go at the bottom
of the glazing and have some special characteristic which enables free
drainage across the bottom of the frame. I can see two drainage slots at
the bottom of the frame and also see that if I fill in the bottom
channel with setting blocks then this would prevent water from draining
from one side. No mention of this in the video.

So, do I need special 'bridge packers' which are different from glazing
packers and if so where do I get them?

I *think* the main purpose is to straddle any moulded ridges in the
frame. On mine, the fixed glazing has such ridges but the openers are
smooth.

I thought they were to do with water drainage, but as they do not occupy
the full width, there's plenty of room for water to run around the
packers.

Dare say you could survive without if you silicone a 4 or 5mm packer over
the ridges (if any). Then loose pack from there as required. Choose a
flat packer as the first one to silicone in - some are slightly curved
and obviously after the silicone sets, they won't be able to flatten out
and load the glass evenly.

I couldn't work out why Screwfix forgot to include the bridge packers in
the mixed pack...

ebay have them in small amounts

(2) Glazing packers. My glazing is roughly (just under) 28mm deep so I
assumed that 28mm packers would be required. On removing the glazing
beads from my first frame I note that the gap appears to be just under
24mm (the smallest width offered by Screwfix) with a lip about 4mm up on
the glazing bead side of the frame only.
Above the lip is about 26mm wide to a small ridge - the other (under)
side of this lip holds the glazing bead in. This still doesn't seem wide
enough to get the glazing behind, and the distance between these two
ridges is about 40cms and the glazing is about 39.5 cms wide.
So it is looking as though I have to build up about 4-6mm of glazing
packers all the way round (24mm or under) until they are proud of this
ridge before fitting the glazing unit.
This will leave quite a large gap all the way tound the unit - far more
than is required to accept the heads of the frame fixers. Is this usual?

No. On mine the typical total packing depth was 6-10mm depending. The
glazing without packers would be a very loose fit.







--
Tim Watts

Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.

"Tim Watts" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:53:35 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wibbled:

I've read various stuff, including Tim W's very useful thread.

I'm now starting to fit my own B&Q frames and as usual the questions I
want to ask aren't quite answered.

(1) I have a pack of glazing packers from Screwfix (two, actually, 28mm
and 32mm). The double glazed units are a shade under 28mm deep. However
I have seen reference to 'bridge packers' which I think go at the bottom
of the glazing and have some special characteristic which enables free
drainage across the bottom of the frame. I can see two drainage slots at
the bottom of the frame and also see that if I fill in the bottom
channel with setting blocks then this would prevent water from draining
from one side. No mention of this in the video.

So, do I need special 'bridge packers' which are different from glazing
packers and if so where do I get them?

I *think* the main purpose is to straddle any moulded ridges in the
frame. On mine, the fixed glazing has such ridges but the openers are
smooth.

I thought they were to do with water drainage, but as they do not occupy
the full width, there's plenty of room for water to run around the
packers.

Dare say you could survive without if you silicone a 4 or 5mm packer over
the ridges (if any). Then loose pack from there as required. Choose a
flat packer as the first one to silicone in - some are slightly curved
and obviously after the silicone sets, they won't be able to flatten out
and load the glass evenly.

I couldn't work out why Screwfix forgot to include the bridge packers in
the mixed pack...

ebay have them in small amounts

(2) Glazing packers. My glazing is roughly (just under) 28mm deep so I
assumed that 28mm packers would be required. On removing the glazing
beads from my first frame I note that the gap appears to be just under
24mm (the smallest width offered by Screwfix) with a lip about 4mm up on
the glazing bead side of the frame only.
Above the lip is about 26mm wide to a small ridge - the other (under)
side of this lip holds the glazing bead in. This still doesn't seem wide
enough to get the glazing behind, and the distance between these two
ridges is about 40cms and the glazing is about 39.5 cms wide.
So it is looking as though I have to build up about 4-6mm of glazing
packers all the way round (24mm or under) until they are proud of this
ridge before fitting the glazing unit.
This will leave quite a large gap all the way tound the unit - far more
than is required to accept the heads of the frame fixers. Is this usual?

No. On mine the typical total packing depth was 6-10mm depending. The
glazing without packers would be a very loose fit.


In the spirit of DIY I suppose I could just cut a standard packer lengthways
into strips and use this to construct a bridge packer.

Alternatively, I could just pop up to my friendly local plastic moulding
place and get some there - have looked at
http://www.seac.co.uk/glazing.asp
which gives nice pictures of the various type and confirms the ridginess of
the bridge packers.

They also show U shaped frame packers which allegedly slot together.
Are these perhaps for packing out the sides of the frames whilst leaving
space for a frame fixing in the middle of the U?
Seems like a potentially good idea to fix the frames without distortion.

Also, the fit between the cill and the bottom of the frame is not
particularly snug, but I presume there has to be a space at the front to
allow the drainage channels at the bottom of the frame to drain out across
the cfront of the cill.

Now measuring up my stock of self tappers to see if I have the required
specific sizes or if I need to get some more.

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder